Thalassoma purpureum

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Found almost exclusively in the surge zone of outer reef flats , reef margins , and rocky coastlines, down to a depth of about 10 m (Ref. 5213).

Typically found in water with a depth of 0 to -5,202 meters (0 to -17,067 feet).[2]

Biome: Marine .

Ecology: This species is found around coral reefs between 0-10 m depth (Sommer et al. 2006), in clean coastal waters to outer reef flats , often in the surge zone but also down to 15 m (Kuiter 2002).

Thalassoma purpureum and T. trilobatum (which have a similar geographic range , (Kuiter 2002)) have nearly identical initial (female) phases (Myers 1991), and only differ slightly in coloration and length of the head . Thalassoma purpureum has a slightly longer head and the female of this species is best distinguished by a V-shaped mark on the snout (Myers 1991, Kuiter and Tonozuka 2001). The initial phase has a vertical dark red line below the front of the eye, usually with a branch to the front of the snout (Westneat 2001). It is a protogynous hermaphrodite (DeMartini et al. 2005), and forms spawning groups (Squire and Samoilys unpub. in Claydon 2004). (Ref. 310479).

List of Habitats :

•     9     Marine Neritic   
  
•     9.2     Marine Neritic - Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs   
  
•     9.8     Marine Neritic - Coral Reef   
[more info]

Biology

Diet

Feeds on small invertebrates (crabs, sea urchins, brittlestars, mollusks), small fishes , echinoids, ophiuroids and polychaetes [3].

Behavior

Occurs in groups of females that are spread out over large reef sections and dominated by few males.

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Julis semicoeruleus • Julis semicoeruleus Rüppell • Julis umbrostygma • Julis umbrostygma Rüppell • Scarus purpureus • Scarus purpureus Forssk ål • Scarus purpureus Forsskål • Scarus purpureus Forsskål, 1775 • Thalassoma purpurea • Thalassoma purpurea (Forsskål • Thalassoma purpurea (Forsskål, 1775) • Thalassoma purpurea< /i> (Forsskål • Thalassoma purpureum • Thalassoma semicaeruleus • Thalassoma semicaeruleus< /i> (Rüppell • Thalassoma semicoeruleus • Thalassoma semicoeruleus< /i> (Rüppell • Thalassoma umbrostigma • Thalassoma umbrostigma< /i> (Rüppell • Thalassoma umbrostygma • Thalassoma umbrostygma< /i> (Rüppell

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: Data last modified by FishBase 31-May-1995

Similar Species

Members of the genus Thalassoma

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 36 species and subspecies in this genus:

T. amblycephalum (Blunt-Headed Wrasse) · T. amblycephalus (Blunt-Headed Wrasse) · T. ascensionis (Greenfish) · T. ballieui (Light Colored Wrasse Fish) · T. bifasciatum (Bluehead Wrasse) · T. cupido (Cupid Wrasse) · T. duperrey (Saddle-Back Wrasse) · T. duperreyi (Saddle-Back Wrasse) · T. trilobatum (Ladder Wrasse) · T. genivittatum (Red-Cheek Wrasse) · T. grammaticum (Sunset Wrasse) · T. hardwicke (Six-Barred Wrasse) · T. hardwickei (Six-Banded Wrasse) · T. hardwicki (Six-Banded Wrasse) · T. hebraicum (Crossbanded Wrasse) · T. heiseri (Pitcairn Rainbow Wrasse) · T. nigrofasciatum (Jansen's Wrasse) · T. jansenii (Jansen´s Wrasse) · T. loxum (Slant-Band Wrasse) · T. lucasanum (Cortez Rainbow Wrasse) · T. lunare (Crescent-Tail Wrasse) · T. lutescens (Green Moon Wrasse) · T. newtoni (Newton's Wrasse) · T. nigrofasciatum (Black-Barred Wrasse) · T. noronhanum (Noronha Wrasse) · T. pavo (Frecklefin Goby) · T. purpureum (Green-Blocked Wrasse) · T. quinquevittata (Five Striped Surge Wrasse) · T. quinquevittatum (Five Striped Surge Wrasse) · T. quinquevittatus (Five Striped Surge Wrasse) · T. rueppellii (Klunzinger's Wrasse) · T. sanctaehelenae (St. Helena Wrasse) · T. septemfasciata (Seven-Banded Wrasse) · T. septemfasciatum (Seven-Banded Wrasse) · T. trilobatum (Green-Blocked Wrasse) · T. virens (Emerald Sleeper)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A catalogue of the fishes known to inhabit the waters of North America, north of the Tropic of Cancer, with notes on the species discovered in 1883 and 1884, by David Starr Jordan. Washington, Govt. print. off., 1885. url p. 99.
• A list of the fishes of Hawaii, with notes and descriptions of new species, by David Starr Jordan and Eric Knight Jordan. Pittsburgh, Board of trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1922. url p. 72.
• A list of the fishes of Hawaii: with notes and descriptions of new species / by David Starr Jordan and Eric Knight Jordan. Pittsburgh: Published by the authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1922. url p. 72.
• An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Chagos Archipelago, Central Indian Ocean / Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1989. url p. 194, p. 56.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url , p. 197, p. 203, p. 207.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 222.
• Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Print. Off., 1905-1950. url p. 305.
• Fishery bulletin / U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service: url p. 235.
• Fishes of Guam, Hawaii, Samoa, and Tahiti. Honolulu, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 1925. url p. 29.
• Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge [Mass.]: The Museum, 1876-1940. url p. 140, p. 302.
• NOAA technical report NMFS SSRF. Seattle, Wash.: National Marine Fisheries Service; url p. 23.
• Occasional papers of Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Honolulu, Bishop Museum Press, 1898-1984. url p. 115, p. 25, p. 25.
• Occasional papers. Honolulu, Bishop Museum Press. url p. 25.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url , p. 283, p. 298.
• Report of the Bureau of Fisheries / Department of Commerce and Labor. Washington: G.P.O., 1905. url p. 440, p. 441.
• The Australian zoologist. Sydney, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales url p. 226.
• The Natural history of Enewetak Atoll / edited by Dennis M. Devaney. .. [et al.]; prepared by Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Department of Energy. Oak Ridge, Tenn.: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Energy Research, Office of Health and Environmental Research, Ecological Research Division, c1987. url p. 305.
• The fishes of Samoa. Description of the species found in the Archipelago, with a provisional check-list of the fishes of Oceania. [By David Starr Jordan and Alvin Seale]. .. 1906 Washington, Government print off., 1906. url p. 305.
• The natural history of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island / edited by Carl Skottsberg. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri, 1920- url p. 64.
• The shore fishes / by William C. Kendall and Lewis Radcliffe; with eight plates. 35 1912 Cambridge, U.S.A.: Printed for the Museum, 1912. url p. 140.
• Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia (Incorporated). Adelaide: W.C. Rigby, 1912-1937. url p. 445.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed February 4, 2012.
• Cabanban, A. & Pollard, D. 2010. Thalassoma purpureum. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 05February2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 10, 2007:

• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity - Fish Collection
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, iziko South African Museum - Fish Collection
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Vertebrate specimens
• Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Ichtyologie
• National Chemical Laboratory, IndOBIS, Indian Ocean Node of OBIS
• OZCAM
• Provider, Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
• Royal Ontario Museum, Fish specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 139836
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-25737
• Fishbase Species ID: 5647
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13287971
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 170580
• IUCN ID: 245923
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 126466

Footnotes

1. Kuiter, R. H. and Tonozuka (2001). Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 2. Fusiliers - Dragonets, Caesionidar - Callionymidae. Zoonetics, Australia. 304-622 p. [back]
2. Mean = -256.100 meters (-840.223 feet), Standard Deviation = 841.470 based on 377 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
3. Myers, R.F. (1999). Micronesian reef fishes: a comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia, 3rd revised and expanded edition. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. 330 p. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.